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title	3. Our current approaches

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title	a. Who are we?

Formed in 1992, DEG has 37 academic staff members and over 500 taught students. Teaching is supported by 1 teaching technician, additional technicians who provide support for field trips, lab work and dissertation projects, and 13 members of professional support staff.

We run 4 undergraduate degree programmes, including a BSc ‘Environmental Science’, BSc ‘Environmental Geography’, BSc ‘Environment, Economics, and Ecology’ and BA ‘Human Geography and Environment’. BSc programmes have an integrated master’s option. We are further involved in a BA ‘Global Development’ run by the Interdisciplinary Global Development Centre (IGDC) based in the Department of Politics in York, and contribute modules to two specialisation pathways within the University of York Natural Sciences programmes.

Our postgraduate taught portfolio comprises MSc programmes in ‘Environmental Economics and Environmental Management’, ‘Environmental Science and Management’ and ‘Corporate Sustainability and Environmental Management’. We are further involved in a MSc ‘Sustainability Science’ and MA ‘Sustainability Studies’ with the Department of Archaeology. We are the lead York Department for the MSc ‘Sustainable Business: Leadership, Innovation and Management’ which is a blended learning programme that has been developed as part of the York-Maastricht Partnership (YMP) and will accept its first cohort in the academic year 21/22.

In line with the York Pedagogy, each of our programmes has a set of employability-focussed programme learning outcomes and a programme leader (PL). The curricula of all programmes have been designed to ensure gradual progression towards programme learning outcomes during the course of study. Our BSc/MEnv programmes are accredited by the Institution of Environmental Sciences.

Table 1: DEG teaching committee membership

Environment and Geography Teaching Management Team (EGTMT)	Department Teaching Committee (DTC)
Director of Learning and Teaching (Chair)	Director of Learning and Teaching (Chair)
Chair of Board of Studies	Chair of Board of Studies
Chair of Board of Examiners	Chair of Board of Examiners
Student Services Manager	Student Services Manager
	UG and PGT Programme Leaders
	UG and PGT Administrators
	Chair of the Equality and Diversity Committee
	Academic Employability Rep
	Industry Liaison Officer
	Student Feedback Champion
	Department Student Rep

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title	b. Teaching management

A new The DLT chairs the Environment and Geography Teaching Management Team (EGTMT) and Department Teaching Committee (DTC). EGTMT has responsibility for Department-level decisions on teaching organisation and policy. DTC is a think-tank for programme-level learning and teaching practice. Membership of EGTMT and DTC are provided in Table 1.

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title	4. Development of this strategy

This strategy has been developed based on the outcomes of a series of workshops held with representatives from within and outside of the Department during 2020 (see Table 2). DTC and wider departmental consultation was undertaken in finalising this strategy.

Table 2: DEG Learning and Teaching strategy development

Timing	Details	Focus
Summer 2020	Workshop (internal+external)	What would a ‘solutions-based’ pedagogy look like?
Summer 2020	Workshop (internal)	What would a ‘solutions-based’ pedagogy mean for us?
Autumn 2020	DTC workshop	Our L&T guiding principles
Autumn 2020	DTC workshop	Achieving our ambitions
Autumn 2020	DMT presentation	New vision and how it builds on our previous L&T strategy
March 2021	Consultation	DTC
April 2021	Consultation	Department staff

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title	5. Our learning and teaching guiding principles

At a workshop held in December 2020, DTC agreed on a set of guiding principles for learning and teaching in DEG. These principles are in line with our Department’s core values and guide any decisions made about our teaching and learning.

Inclusive practices in learning, teaching and assessment:

In line with the University’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, DEG has a commitment to inclusive practices in learning, teaching and assessment. We support all students to do their best and gain the most they can out of their education with us. Our teaching celebrates diversity, enables participation, removes barriers and anticipates and considers a variety of learning needs and preferences. As part of this we have a long-term commitment to decolonise and diversify our curriculum.

Empowering learning experience:

Our approaches to learning and teaching empower students and help them to develop self-efficacy and agency. Graduates from our programmes are prepared to consider and respect varied perspectives, think independently and make their own informed decisions.

Interdisciplinary learning experience:

Current and future environment and sustainability challenges are complex and impossible to understand or resolve from a single disciplinary perspective or knowledge framework. Students studying on our programmes have opportunities to work across disciplines, from both within and outside of their programme, to allow them to apply and realise their expertise in multidisciplinary teams.

Integrative and experiential learning:

All students graduating from our programmes will have had opportunities for integrative and experiential learning appropriate for the discipline. This will be through, for example, field courses and laboratory practicals, curriculum-based engagement with external organisations and the general public, and working on ‘live’ real-world problems. Our research-based approach to teaching also gives students opportunities to get involved in the research underway in the Department. This ‘learning by doing’ and associated reflection enhances learning, a feeling of task value and motivation, and helps with career-development planning.

Evidence-based and innovative approaches to learning and teaching:

Our approaches to learning and teaching are strongly evidence-based, progressive and innovative, where needed, but we also maintain the effective traditional methods.

Student partnerships:

Students studying in DEG feel part of a teaching and research community. Staff and students are actively engaged in and gain from the process of learning and working together, including through research. This partnership approach propels students to greater learning gain and achievement, and brings benefits to all involved.

Environmental sustainability:

We consider the environmental impact of our learning and teaching activities, and strive to reduce negative impacts and increase positive impacts wherever possible.

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title	9. Future growth

DEG is currently involved in discussions around the establishment of an environmental sustainability ‘entity’ as part of the University restructure plans. The creation of this entity will help us with our plans to become a University hub for sustainability teaching.

We will review our programme portfolio, including programme titles, as plans evolve for the introduction of a ‘solutions-based’ pedagogy. This strategy does not include specific plans for the creation of new taught programmes as this needs to be considered in line with the future DEG financial plan. However, we will explore opportunities for new programmes which help us to meet our overarching vision, are adequately resourced, and fit with financial planning for the Department and our restructure plans. Programmes that will fit with this vision include those which are focussed on training students to address global challenges and have interdisciplinarity, transformative competencies and skills for a sustainable future as core learning outcomes.

Table 3: DEG Learning and Teaching Strategy (2021-2032) plan

Area of focus	End of 20/21	End of 21/22	End of 2025	By 2032
Strategy development, and implementation	New Department Strategy for Learning and Teaching approved and adopted with metrics developed to assess performance	As a result of the starting to see improvements in our performance in NSS and PTES	Top quartiles in NSS and PTES across all dimensions	Top 5 in key league tables
Pedagogy	Descriptor of a new ‘solutions-based’ pedagogy and plan for implementation developed and approved	Initial phase of transition completed	‘Solutions-based pedagogy’ embedded as a USP. Known nationally for ‘solutions-based pedagogy’	Known internationally for ‘solutions-based’ pedagogy as evidenced by invitations for external engagement.
Programme structure	Plan for transitioning to semesters, 20 credit modules developed and approved, including restructure of MEnv programmes.	Initial phases of transition completed	Transitioned to semesters and 20 credit modules. Teaching workloads reduced by 25%.	Seamless and highly effective and efficient programme structures as evidenced by improved student feedback and increased time for research.
Teaching staff	Recruitment of 3 T&S staff who can lead on pedagogic developments and free up research time for ART colleagues. Establish programme expert teams and a learning and teaching seminar series.	Recruitment of further T&S staff. SSR in line with other Russell Group Universities Teaching seminar series established.	Highly functioning T&S team who are central to pedagogic developments. Achieved 40% research time for ART colleagues. Strong community of teaching practice.	Academic staff who feel professionally fulfilled in all aspects of their role, and part of a community of teaching practice.
Student recruitment	Recruitment strategy developed and agreed, which will bring a higher proportion of overseas students to the Department and improve intake grades.	Running campaigns to attract a greater proportion of international students to our programmes.	Increasing proportion of international students. All students at or above stated entry requirements.	The ‘go-to’ place for global challenge education, including a highly diverse student body with proportion of international students above the Russell Group average for the subject area and being a selector rather than a recruiter.
Impact of our teaching at Department and University levels	Review of employability in the curriculum completed. Employability/ student success plan developed and approved. Development of plans for becoming a hub for York environment and sustainability teaching.	Initial stage of implementation. Trial of University-level environment and sustainability teaching initiatives completed.	Above benchmark Graduate Outcomes for the subject area, and starting to move up related league tables. Running interdisciplinary modules that are open to all York students.	Above benchmark Graduate Outcomes for the sector, and top 5 in related league tables. Highly successful and award-winning alumni leading in the environment and sustainability sector.
Global challenge pedagogic research	Initiate pedagogic research arm of the Department by development of T&S team, and submitting 2 publications on pedagogic research	Growing publication list on pedagogic research. At least 2 conference presentations. T&S team submit >2 applications for funding for pedagogic research.	Known nationally as a leading centre for global challenge pedagogic research T&S team submit > 4 applications for funding for pedagogic research.	Known internationally as a leading centre for global challenge pedagogic research as evidenced by publications and external engagement.

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